''Excellent'' is the fourth studio album from

Christian hip hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United S ...

and

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

artist

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

. Produced by

Beautiful Eulogy Beautiful Eulogy is a Christian experimental hip hop group and production team from Portland, Oregon, signed to the label Humble Beast. Composed of rappers Braille and Odd Thomas and producer Courtland Urbano, the group coalesced in 2011 while t ...

, it was released by Humble Beast Records on September 25, 2012. The album charted on the ''

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200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 '' Ab ur ...

at No. 184 and met with a positive reception from critics.

Recording and release

''Excellent'' was produced by the hip-hop group

. It was released on September 25, 2012. The same day, a music video for the title track was released. A second music video, for "Redefined Cutter", followed on March 25, 2013.

Critical reception

''Excellent'' met with positive reception from music critics. At

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, Nyon Smith rated the album a four out of five stars, stating that Propaganda made "something that is life-applicable and life-relatable", but opined that, while a good poet, Propaganda should have rapped more. Ian Harvey of '' HM'' rated the album four out of five stars, writing that Propaganda is setting "the bar higher for the word than imagined." At ''

CCM Magazine ''CCM Magazine'' is a twice-monthly online magazine focusing on contemporary Christian music, published by Salem Publishing, a division of Salem Communications. History ''CCM'' was first published in July 1978, as a printed magazine. It has bee ...

'',

Andrew Greer Andrew Brooks Greer (born July 10, 1982) is a touring independent singer-songwriter and writer living in Nashville, Tennessee. Background Greer was born in Azle, Texas, on July 10, 1982, the son of Thomas and Jane Greer ('' née'', Girard ...

rated the album three stars out of five, noting the album's "easy oscillation between rap and spoken poetry." Steve Hayes of

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rated the album nine out of ten squares, stating that "The only pity is that it's so short." At Jesus Freak Hideout, Scott Fryberger rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, commenting on the lyrical depth of the album. Dwayne Lacy of New Release Tuesday rated the album four stars out of five, saying that the release will leave the listener intellectually stimulated. At Indie Vision Music, Jessica Cooper rated the album a perfect five stars, considering ''Excellent'' "a superior piece of art stuffed with truth, bursting with originality, not lacking in boldness, that accurately conveys his brilliance as an artist." Michael Wildes of The Christian Manifesto rated the album four stars out of five, writing that "Excellent is a paradox; it holds up pictures of broken images that we constantly look at throughout life, analyzes them for those values and calls them to a greater standard." At Christian Music Zine, Anthony Peronto rated the album a perfect five stars, saying that "the poetry will widen your perspective while Beautiful Eulogy’s original production will surely keep your ears from falling into habituation."

Commercial performance

For the ''

'' charting week of October 13, 2012, ''Excellent'' charted a No. 184 on the ''Billboard'' 200, No. 14 on the

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

chart, No. 17 on the Top Gospel chart, No. 19 on the

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chart, and No. 43 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

Recording and release

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Track listing

Charts

References